Convention et Common knowledge

Jean-Pierre Dupuy

Revue Économique, 1989, vol. 40, issue 2, 361-400

Abstract: [eng] Convention and common knowledge. . « Rationality cannot feed on itself only » (Aumann). Unless it feeds also on collective entities, such as conventions, that are not amenable to individual rationality, it fails to determine social reality. The concept of Common knowledge is examined in this Hght, as well as its ambition to render the collectivity totally transparent to its individual members. It is shown that this ambition is hindered by logical impossibilities. Perfect information is not the limit of imperfect information when imperfection becomes infinitely small. Perfect information is a self-refuting ideal. Lewis's and Keynes's concepts of convention are compared. [fre] Convention et Common knowledge. . Le paradigme de la rationalité est radicalement incomplet. Sans le secours d'objets collectifs irréductibles à la rationalité individuelle, comme les conventions, les interactions entre acteurs individuels rationels seraient en général incapables de produire à elles seules une réalité déterminée. On examine dans cette perspective le concept de Common Knowledge et la visée qu'if manifeste de transparence parfaite du collectif par rapport aux individus. On montre que cette ambition se heurte à des impossibilités de type logique. Il apparaît que l'information parfaite n'est pas la limite d'une information imparfaite lorsque l'imperfection tend vers zéro ; et que l'information parfaite est un idéal autoréfutant. On compare les notions de convention proposées par O.K. Lewis et par J.M. Keynes

Date: 1989
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